We get lots of calls from clients wondering how they can remove gum from carpet, rugs and upholstery. They are surprised to find out that they can do it themselves in just a couple of minutes.

Here is a list of items that you’ll need to have before you start:

Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol)

A butter knife

or a “Gum Getter” Tool – available at any carpet cleaning supply distributor

So this is what you do: Simply soak the piece of gum with isopropyl alcohol and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. The piece of gum will soften up during that time. After about 5 minutes you can use your fingers or a towel to try to pull out the gum. If the gum is squashed into the carpet or fabric, then simply take your butter knife or ‘gum getter’ tool and gently scrape the gum off the carpet. Be sure to be gentle. We don’t want to cause any damage to the carpet fibers.

If the gum feels stiff, put more alcohol on it and give it some more time. Poke the gum a little from the top (but don’t push it in further). This helps soften it quicker.

Once it is soft enough, you can slide the butter knife under the gum and lift it out. Gently scrape any remaining pieces or residue until it is all gone. Be sure to blot up any remaining alcohol so it dries quicker.

Over the counter products are very expensive and have many limitations. We instead offer a very effective ‘recipe’ you can use to treat odors when they are still fresh. Click Here to download your “FREE” Copy.

Seek professional help if the odor continues. A great cleaner will ‘guarantee’ their results and explain why odors occur.

Inevitably the day will come when we must replace our carpets. Unfortunately, must consumers are enticed by sales people to buy carpet based on color and thickness. Here a several valuable tips to help you make better, more informed “buying” decisions when it comes time to replace your carpet.

There are 3 main carpet fibers on the market today. They are nylon, polyester and olefin. Each have their PROS and CONS so consider which will best fit your needs. Click Here to download your “FREE” Copy of our ‘Carpet Characteristics’ report.

FiberCARE Recommends: Installing Nylon Carpet. However there are 2 types of nylon, so be sure to ask for TYPE 6, 6. The performance is ‘AMAZING’

Always install your carpet over an 8 pound carpet cushion (or pad). Most retailers will sell you a ” 4 pound pad” and never inform the consumer about the industry standards or how inferior pad will break down over time and result in permanent visible traffic lanes. They do this to cut corners and pocket the savings. Unfortunately, sub-standard carpet cushion only lasts a couple of years (just enough to exceed the warranty) and then breaks down. Homeowners must then deal with ugly wrinkles (or buckles) on the carpet or unsightly traffic lanes that are caused ‘not by soil’, but by an uneven pad that no longer reflects light (ie. color) evenly.

Ensure carpet cushion (pad) is unrolled and allowed to expand at least 24 hours before installation. Most installers are always in a hurry to get to their next job and fail to take this critical step. They instead open the rolls of carpet cushion for the first time at the time of installation. The pad which is “vacuum” packed to 75% of its original size will not have enough time to expand for proper installation and this will lead to costly unnecessary repairs.

FiberCARE Recommends: Coordinating with the installer and having them schedule 2 appointments with you. The first is just to drop off the pad and unroll it in your garage or back yard where it can expand. The second is for the actual installation at least 24 hours after the first appointment.

Discover a few “DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS” every carpet retailer hopes you never learn…CARPET MAINTENANCE SECRETS:

Save Thousands by simply “vacuuming’ your carpet or upholstery at minimum twice a week. Eighty percent 80% of the soil in your carpet is sand (Quartz) and sand scratches face yarns. These scratches then affect the way light reflects from your carpet and ultimately the way color is seen by the human eye. Frequent vacuuming removes these abrasive materials which extends the “life and beauty” of your carpet.

FiberCARE Recommends: Always using a ‘commercial’ grade vacuum cleaner such as the “Royal Conquest” which offers superior airflow and will outperform any “retail” vacuum cleaner on the market. If you’re not sure about this, give us a call and we would be happy to supply you with a loaner model to help you make an intelligent and informed decision.

Never use “Plastic” runners to protect hallways or stairways. Using these products will lead to permanent damage on your carpet when the plastic spikes at the bottom become permanent dimples on the carpet face yarns. This damage cannot be “clean” away and the only remedy is to purchase new carpeting.

FiberCARE Recommends: Always re-applying a high quality Carpet and Upholstery protector to protect textiles against unwanted spots and stains. High quality carpet and upholstery protectors come with the following qualities and protection.

The protector is made from a ‘Teflon’ base which coats, seals and protects fibers like the ‘Teflon’ found on pots and pans without attracting soils.

Your protectors must ‘repel’ water-based soils such as soft drinks and other drinks found on the market.

Your protector must also ‘repel’ oil-based soils such as asphalt and other oily soils we tend to track into our homes with our shoes.

Of course, it MUST ‘repel’ dry soils such as sand which is extremely common in El Paso.

Last, a quality protector will contain ‘ACID DYE RESISTORS’ that seal open dye sites on fibers that can accept ‘new’ colors added to the carpet when accidents happen that involve drinks like Kool Aid or Red Wine.

Aways use a CARPET BRUSH before vacuuming to loosen dry soils that have adhered to the carpet fibers. Agitating these soils will allow your vacuum cleaner to remove more soil.

FiberCARE Recommends: Using a Grandi Brush on your carpet. It is a FABULOUS solution for removing pet hair and other dry soil particulate found on carpet. A hand brush version is also available for upholstery and stairs.

Never “Spray” any spotting solution directly into a “spot”. We all learned to treat spots this way, but it’s the worse thing you can do. Applying a cleaner directly on the spot will remove the surface tension and allow the soil to migrate deeper into the carpet. Then you end up with 2 problems instead of 1 because you then have to figure out how to get the soil back to the surface. Instead apply your cleaner into a ‘white’ towel and tamp it over the spot until it releases.

FiberCARE Recommends: Use our ‘INCREDIBLE’ Extremely Clean Spotter which is tough on spots and “safe” on carpet. Unlike other products on the market, it does not contain BLEACH or SOLVENTS that provide instant gratification, but causes recurring spots that re-appear within days.

All the floors in your home are a “FLOORING SYSTEM” and what that means is that the cleaners you apply to one surface affect the other. Many times we use cleaners on tile such as “Pinesol”, “Fabuloso” and the “Swiffer” that leads to unnecessary traffic lanes from residues at transition points between tile and carpet. Those dark traffic lanes are residue caused from cleaners that have been tracked onto carpet.